Yesterday’s (5/10) Top News/Talk Media Stories
New York Congressman George Santos pleads not guilty to federal charges of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and lying on House financial forms; the legal battles facing former President Donald Trump and his CNN Town Hall; the large number of asylum-seeking migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border as Title 42 expires; the debt ceiling negotiations between President Joe Biden and congressional leaders; Tucker Carlson’s planned return via Twitter; House Oversight chair James Comer’s investigation in to Biden family finances; and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war were some of the most-talked-about stories in news/talk media yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.
company posts a Q1 2023 net loss of $35.9 million, an increase of 225% compared to Q1 of 2022. Audacy chairman, president and CEO David J. Field states, “First quarter revenues were down 5.7% with local sales significantly outperforming national as challenging ad market conditions persisted. Cash operating expenses were up 3% during the quarter but are expected to be below prior-year levels for the remainder of 2023. Notwithstanding the difficult economic headwinds, we remain steadfastly focused on delivering significantly higher future levels of Adjusted EBITDA, capitalizing on our multiple growth drivers and our differentiated premium competitive position in the dynamic audio market. We are making progress on each of our drivers, including our podcasting and digital marketing solutions businesses, our reinvented streaming audio platform, our emerging ad tech and ad products, and our enhanced national enterprise business development efforts. In addition, we are encouraged to see some positive signs in our auto business as we continue our vigorous work to weather the storm and await future improvements in market conditions.”
Broadcast Advertising revenue was $45.9 million (down 4.8% over Q1 of 2022), and Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions revenue was $21.5 million (down 1.3% over Q1 of 2022). Townsquare Media CEO Bill Wilson says, “I am pleased to share that Townsquare’s first quarter results exceeded our previously issued guidance for both net revenue and Adjusted EBITDA, due primarily to the continued strength of our digital and local advertising platform and solutions… In the first quarter, we grew cash flow from operations to $9 million, due to the strong cash generation of many of our assets, and opportunistically repurchased more than $12 million of our Unsecured Senior Notes at a discount. We ended the quarter with a strong cash balance of $42 million and maintained our all-time low net leverage multiple of 4.29x. Our growth engine has been and will continue to be our digital solutions. We believe that our Digital First business model and strategy position us to navigate the current macro-economic environment better than most, and that our revenue, profit and cash flow results will be among the best in the local media industry, particularly when compared to 2019 pre-COVID financials given our growth in revenue and profit since 2019. Our confidence is directly tied to the Townsquare team’s efforts and talent, as well as our large, growing, and profitable digital platform which contributes more than half of Townsquare’s total net revenue and profit.”
increased 17.4% to $67.7 million leading to an operating loss of $4.2 million as compared to operating income of $5 million posted in Q1 of 2022. Salem reports a net loss of $5.2 million, compared to Q1 2022’s net income of $1.7 million. Salem reports in three segments – Broadcast, Digital Media, and Publishing. Broadcast revenue for the quarter was $48.3 million (down 0.2%), Digital Media was $10.5 million (up 2%), and Publishing revenue was $4.6 million (up 19.7%). Looking ahead, the company is projecting total revenue to decline between 5% and 7% from the second quarter 2022 total revenue of $68.7 million and expects operating expenses to increase between 3% and 6% compared to Q2 of 2022. 
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he’d undergone a medical procedure earlier in the day and was not feeling well. Carr’s family tweeted, “Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers for Howie. During his show today, he fainted. He is getting care now and doing better.” Carr’s flagship station is iHeartMedia’s WRKO, Boston and he’s heard throughout the Northeast via The Howie Carr Radio Network. 
am to 1:00 pm program will “take a closer look at a variety of issues important to the greater Baltimore area, leaning on her extensive network to bring Saturday listeners interviews with key newsmakers.” WBAL director of programming Jeff Wade states, “Jayne brings a wealth of knowledge to the microphone built on decades of experience asking the tough questions and holding those in power accountable. I’m excited for her to bring that same tenacity, inquisitive nature and passion to WBAL’s Saturday lineup.” 
reports that Huggins’ employer – West Virginia University – says it is taking the situation “under review and will be addressed by the University and its athletics department.” Cunningham and Huggins were talking about Huggins’ former crosstown rival, Xavier University, from his time as head coach of University of Cincinnati, when Huggins referenced incidents of Xavier students throwing rubber penises on the basketball court “and then say they didn’t do it.” He added, “…what it was, was all those fa**ots, those Catholic fa**ots, I think.” 
talk/AC/sports station WOMT-AM/W300EE, Manitowoc was named News Operation of the Year winner in Medium Market News and Talk Radio. Midwest Communications’ news/talk WTAQ, Green Bay was erroneously named the winner on Saturday night. The WBA says the stations have been informed and awards will be produced and delivered to the stations. WBA president Michelle Vetterkind says, “We are very sorry for the error. The points awarded for social/digital media categories were not attributed to the News Operation of the Year award calculation. In previous years, points for those categories did not go toward News Operation of the Year. That rule change was made for the 2022 contest but wasn’t incorporated into the tabulation process.”
Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova. Zakrzewski covered nearly every international story for the network during his almost 20-year tenure and was based in London. In 2021, Zakrzewski notably played a key role in rescuing Afghan freelance associates and their families from the country following the withdrawal of U.S. forces there. FOX News Media CEO Suzanne Scott says, “Pierre was renowned throughout the media industry for his passionate storytelling and remarkable skill, and he was an all-around exceptional colleague. While we are still devastated by his loss, we are extremely proud to honor his legacy by dedicating and naming our London bureau after him.”
competing news outlets through 2025. Carlson and FOX parted ways several weeks ago but Carlson’s contract with the media firm could keep him from working from another media outlet while FOX continues to pay him $20 million per year. Reimann’s piece indicates that Carlson is fielding offers from numerous conservative news/talk outlets including Newsmax, Rumble, One America News, and The Daily Wire. Freedman told Axios, “The idea that anyone is going to silence Tucker and prevent him from speaking to his audience is beyond preposterous.” 
Tik-Tok is hot (largely among users too young to be heavy AM/FM listeners) and it’s in-the-news (about its possible ban). And, yes, Facebook remains T-Rex in the social media jungle. But people on Twitter seem to live there.
You have still have six weeks to make Father’s Day your sales success. Stop taking for granted, this always undersold 100-plus-years-old celebration.
The Ramsey Network says Kamel, who went from negative net worth to millionaire and has successfully navigated the money minefield, will “tackle the tough topic of money with humor and wit.” Kamel comments, “There’s so much anxiety and frustration around money. I’m so pumped about this channel because we’re going to show people personal finance doesn’t need to be complicated, and we’re going to have a lot of fun doing it.” New episodes will be posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
contributor to the Red Apple Media station, will host a Sunday talk show, although a firm start date has not been announced. Red Apple CEO John Catsimatidis tells the Post, “She is one smart lady and she is one tough lady and you know how much I appreciate smart tough ladies.” DeRosa says her show will tackle “the major headlines driving national news and New York news. It will be a mix of insiders conversation but also I want it to have broader appeal to everyday New Yorkers.” 
related to crime, law enforcement, public safety, homelessness and the failures of many of our elected officials.” The program debuts this evening (5/8) at 7:00 pm ET. CRN Digital Talk Radio CEO Michael Horn says, “We are thrilled to have Sheriff Villanueva join our lineup of hosts on CRN Digital Talk Radio. His experience and expertise in law enforcement and in public service make him a valuable addition in the talk media universe and we look forward to providing a platform for him to connect with the audience.”